The beta version of the Fedora Linux 42 distribution has been announced, marking the transition to the final testing stage where only errors are allowed. The release is scheduled for April 22 and will cover a range of editions including Fedora Workstation, Fedora Kde Plasma Desktop, Fedora Server, Fedora IoT, Fedora CoreOS, Fedora Cloud Base, Fedora IoT Edition, Fedora Silverblue, Fedora Kinoite, and various Live devices offered in different spins with user interfaces like XFCE, MATE, CINNAMON, LXDE, PhOSH, PHOSH Miracle, LXQT, BUDGIE, SWAY, and COSMIC. These editions will be available for X86_64, Power64, and ARM64 (AARCH64) architectures.
The most notable changes in Fedora Linux 42 include:
- The Fedora Kde Plasma Desktop assembly has now become the base edition of the distribution, with equal support compared to Fedora Workstation. This means that distributions with Gnome and KDE now have equal status and are treated on equal terms. Serious issues with KDE will now block the release, just like serious problems with GNOME did previously. Additionally, the Power (PPC64le) architecture now includes full-stack KDE, including KDE PIM, for systems like Talos Workstation.
- An official Spin assembly of the distribution has been added with the Cosmic desktop environment developed by System76 in Rust. Cosmic offers modes like hybrid mosaic layout of windows and glass fixing windows, allowing for window grouping similar to browser tabs, which can be tied to virtual desktops.
/Reports, release notes, official announcements.